Driver arrested as too fast, too drunk
WINONA, Minn. — A Winona man who police said was driving too fast was stopped and then arrested for drunken driving. Police said that Luis Fernando Tapia-Fajarvo, 25, reeked of alcohol and showed signs of impairment — bloodshot eyes and slurred speech. He had balance problems in roadside sobriety tests, the arresting officer said. At jail his blood-alcohol tested at 0.17%, more double the state cut-off for sobriety. Besides drunken driving Tapia-Fajarvo was charged with speeding and giving a false name to police. The stop was at Broadway and St. Charles streets. He was going 42 mph in a 30 zone, police said.
Lining U.S. Highway 14 through St. Charles
Anti-Trump protest. Fifty or so demonstrators waved and shouted against President Trump’s campaign to rid the country of recent immigrants. St. Charles, population 3,700, is a heavily Mexican section of Winona County. The demonstration on two street corners, was among 2,100 protests nationwide —a slap at Trump never-explained quota of 1 million deportations this year. Image: Steve Lunde
Earlier: Whitewater folks asked to rally: “Save our country”
New in-transit fire tuck, pickup in I-90 wreck
Pierce fire-fighting line-up. Manufactured in Appleton. Prices: $150,000 for Type 6 models to $3 million for custom ladder trucks.
Injuries not serious to flashy collision
NODINE, Minn. — Fresh from the factory, a new fire engine being ferried to a municipality customer out West was involved in a collision with a Ram pickup truck. This was on Interstate 90 between the Houston and Nodine exits. No injuries were serious. The fire engine driver, Richard Ronald Kellner, 59, of Waupaca, Wisconsin, was treated for sustainable injuries at the Winona hospital. No one in the 2023 Dodge 1500 was hurt:
> Jaxton Kent Rein, 16, of Holmen, Wisconsin, the driver.
> Jonathan Kent Rein, 36, of Onalaska, Wisconsin, a passenger.
> Kenton John Rein,11, also of Onalaska, a passenger.
The accident was about 2:30 p.m. Both vehicles were westbound toward Rochester.
Winona Park packed in protest against Trump
Milling, mulling crowd. Not a Trump supporter among them at peaceable No Kings rally. The protesters points made and their anger vented, the assemblage began drifting away as scheduled after about 90 minutes. Images: Nancy Wagner
A slightly muggy afternoon but no rain
WINONA, Minn. – More than 1,000 protesters, perhaps 2,000 by some guesstimates, flooded the one-square block Windom Park to express dissatisfaction and disgust with President Donald Trump. It was Winona’s largest display of public opinion since the Vietnam war. The main focus was Trump’s increasingly monarchial behavior. Most prominent amid many subthemes was “No Kings,” which also was the focus of 2,1000 other demonstrations coast to coast. Amid the exuberance at Windom Park was a somber undertone: The assassination of former Minnesota House leader Melissa Hortman, and her husband overnight 125 miles away at their Brooklyn Park home – and also assassination attempts on Senator John Hoffman and his wife at their home. At Windom Park a moment of silence began a series of speakers because of the shootings, but the event went on anyway. A Democratic candidate for Congress, Jake Johnson of Rochester, who was scheduled to speak, cancelled due to the shootings.
No Kings messaging
Paraphrasing Smoky the Bear.
“You listening, Donald?”
The blur. Stop the aggrandizing.
> Being human is not a crime
> Being locked in cages is not part of the American Dream
> Deport Elon Musk
> Tax Billionaires Now
> Due Process is the Law
> Due Process is America
> Only You can Prevent Fascist Liars
> Would you deport Jesus too?
Windom Park: A No Kings Day portfolio
WINONA Minn. – Above it all, the iconic Baby Trump balloon made its Winona debut at the No Kings Day protest at Windom Park. Tethered in the treetops the baby blimp looked down on a crowd estimated variously at 1,400 to 2,000. Although Trump markets all kinds of self-flattering trinkets, the blimp did not come from his inventory of over-priced suggest-you-buy-this items. The baby blimp was pure mockery with oddly orange flesh and a hair-do of strange yellower-than-yellow sweeps. Then too there was the over-size safety pin on the nappy. Although the protest was seriously unfriendly to Trump, particularly his monarchial behavior, the crowd was peaceful. A Winona police patrol vehicle was parked a discreet block away. The officers never got out. The crowd’s hostility toward Trump found some balance in a merriment somewhat lke an old-fashion block party with friends you forgot haven’t seen in ages. Kindred spirits enjoyed kindred spirits.
Street corner message. Can you name all four authoritarian thugs? Dozens and dozens of cars circled Wjndom Park with drivers honking their support at every intersection and passengers gesturing thumbs up.
A mocked presence. Even his pecs sag on this his 79th birthday.. Images: Andy Frank
Bowser too. Fit right in to Day of Defiance protest.
Voices from the grassroots. In the heart of Winona’s Windom park district of historic homes.
From Spanish. “Verguenca” translates as shame.
Where was Brad? Southern Minnesota’s representative in Congress, Brad Finstad, a Trump toady was conspicuous by his absence — but not forgotten.
Where was Brad? Southern Minnesota’s representative in Congress, Brad Finstad, a Trump toady was conspicuous by his absence — but not forgotten.
Massive Minnesota manhunt for assassin
BROOKLYN PARK, , Minn. – Police launched a dragnet for a 57-year-old Minnesota man who they say fled the house of prominent state legislator Melissa Hortman after killing her and he husband. Vance Luther Boelter was inside the Hortman house when police arrived about 3:45 a.m., police said. He shot at officers, who shot back, and then fled on foot into the dark. It was believed he was not hurt in the shoot-out, nor were officers. Police established a perimeter to find Boelter. Because the Hortman house is near Brooklyn Park’s Edinburgh Golf Course, police thought he might be hiding there. They extended the search three miles around the golf course. How he got away was a mystery. He didn’t retreat to his Ford Explorer, which was still on the street at the Hortman place. Police issued this description:
> White male. Age 57.
> Six-foot-one and 220 pounds,
> Gray hair although with head shaved clean.
> Brown eyes.
> Armed and danger0us.
At the scene, police said Boelter was dressed in dark blue and wore a badge, apparently intended to impersonate a police officer when he rang the Hortmans’ bell. The guise was enhanced by his black Explorer, a look-alike for a police cruiser. The vehicle was complete with a flashing blue light on the dashboard,
Ring bell camera. Police say this was Boelter ringing the doorbell to waken the Hortmans.
Other portraits. Police rounded up other images, some quite dated, to post with their multi-state alert.
Hortmans in post-banquet smiles
The evening before. Just hours before being gunned down in their home, Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark were at the Humphrey-Mondale Dinner. It’s an annual Democratic fund-raising event, this year at the Minneapolis Hilton downtown. The keynote speaker was Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. Image: DFL House Caucus
Walz vows justice for slain legislator
ST.PAUL, Minn. — Governor Tim Walz called the deaths of former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark “a political assassination.” They were gunned down by an intruder in their suburban home about 3:45 a.m. Another legislator, John Hoffman and his wife Yvette, were shot and wounded earlier at their home in another suburb. “We are cautiously optimistic they will survive,” Walz said at a news conference. The governor said the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension was heading the investigation: “We will spare no resource in bringing those responsible to justice. We will not let fear win.”
Verbatim
Walz: “Today Minnesota lost a great leader, and I lost a friend. A formidable public servant and a fixture of the state Capitol, Melissa Hortman woke up every day determined to make our state a better place. She served the people of Minnesota with grace, compassion, and tirelessness.
Minnesota’s thoughts are with her loved ones, and my prayers are with Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette, who were shot and wounded and are being treated. We are not a country that settles our differences at gunpoint. We have demonstrated again and again in our state that it is possible to peacefully disagree, that our state is strengthened by civil public debate.
We must stand united against all forms of violence – and I call on everyone to join me in that commitment. To the responding officers, thank you for your bravery and your swift response.”
At 10 a.m. news conference. Governor flanked on podium by state law enforcement leadership.
Walz-Hortman connection
The governor had caucused in intense negotiations with four leaders from the Legislature, both Democrats and Republicans, including Melissa Hortman, to hammer out a compromises to balance the state budget. These negotiations spanned 2-1/2 weeks. As former House speaker, Hortman was still the Democratic leader of the House. Her current title, however, was “Speaker emerita” in a power-sharing arrangement with Republicans in the nearly evenly divided House.
Key Minnesota legislator, husband assassinated
2nd legislator, spouse wounded
BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. – The leading Democrat in the Minnesota House, Melissa Hortman, and her husband were assassinated in their home in this northwest Minneapolis suburb. A lone gunman ,himself dressed like a police officer, exchanged shots with Brooklyn Park police as they arrived about 3:35 a.m. He got away. Two hours earlier, state Senator John Hoffman and his wife were wounded in their home five miles north in the outer-ring suburb of Champlin. Police in neighboring juridictions then decided to check on the well-being of other legislators in northern Minneapolis suburbs. It was then at Melissa and Mark Hortman’s house that police had a shoot-out with the assassin. In both the Brooklyn Park and Champlin shootings, the victims were struck by bullets multiple times.
Representative Hortman. 1970-2025.
Mark Hortman. Couple had two children.
Crown and tiaras for new Winona royalty
Steamboat Days pageant. A May graduate from Winona High School, Keeli Meyer, was crowned Miss Winona to reign ceremoniously at Steamboat Days and to grace other events during the year. She will receive a $3,500 college scholarship. Alaina Bell was named Princess of the Starboard Watch and won a $1,500 scholarship. Natalie Horeck was named the Princess of the Port Watch and won a $1,500 scholarship.
Notable journalism
Ryder Blare (KTTC, June 11, 2025): “Victims React after Rochester Police Make Arrest in ATM Burglaries”
Daniel Gomez (WEAU, June 8, 2025): “Wisconsin Grade A Dairy Farms in Decline with Production Showing an Opposite Trend”
Mayzie Olson (KAAL, June 12, 2025): “A Local Recovery Center that Defied Shutdown Orders and Remained Open during CoVid Pandemic”
Cops call all-hands to quell carnival brawl
WINONA, Minn. — Three Rochester teens, juiced up at Steamboat Days, triggered a street brawl with carnival workers. The brawl grew as onlookers joined in to protect the carnies. A dozen police officers, including back-up sheriff’s deputies, converged to restore order. It ended only after police used a stun gun to tase one of the Rochester teens who belligerently was refusing police orders to back off. This all started about 8:50 p.m. Not until 40 minutes later were police able to clear the scene. The best view of the riotous commotion — and perhaps the safest — was atop a ferris wheel at Second and Center streets. There were injuries, mostly officers with scrapes, bruises and cuts from being punched and kicked. Nobody required serious medical attention. The Rochester teens — two boys, age 17 and 15, and a girl, 14 — were hauled to jail. For sure, they had some explaining to do to their families about their big albeit misbegotten adventure to Winona.
Blow by blow by blow
According onlookers, the disturbance started when the 15-year-old threw a metal chair at a carnival employee. Why wasn’t clear. Carnies rushed to protect their co-worker. The street was crammed with carnival-goers who saw what was happening and rushed in to hold off the teens. A two-officer police foot patrol attempted to gain control but couldn’t. They called for help. A second foot patrol down the street rushed over. Next was a call to every officer on night duty in the city to assist. Then sheriff’s deputies out in the county were summoned. The Rochester teens were charged with disorderly conduct and obstructing justice. Being juveniles, their names were not released.
Friday night on the midway. Fists exchanged as fray escalated. Taser fired by police to make an arrest.
Whitewater folks asked to rally: “Save our country”
ST. CHARLES, Minn. — A street corner rally for No Kings Day has been organized for western Winona County on Saturday, the county Democratic chair Jim Worthley said. Time: 2 p.m. in St. Charles at the traffic light on Whitewater Avenue at U.S. Highway 14.“Bring your energy, signs, chairs, beverages, and friends to rally for our country,” Worthley said. He sent the message to Whitewater people in western Winona County and adjoining Olmsted County. There also is a simultaneous rally in Winona at Windom Park, at Huff and Broadway streets. In Rochester a parade begins at the same time at Mayo Memorial Park at 301 Sixth Avenue Southeast. Demonstrations are planned at 2,100 sites around the country
Minnesota rallies
> Twin Cities: Anoka, Apple Valley, Bloomington, Chaska, Farmington, Forest Lake, Inver Grove Heights, Minneapolis, Minnetonka, Otsego, St. Paul: (state Capitol), St. Paul Highland, Stillwater, White Bear Lake.
> Outstate: Alexandria, Bemidji, Brainerd, Chisholm, Cyrus, Detroit Lakes, Duluth, Ely, Fergus Falls, Glencoe, Grand Rapids, Hutchinson, International Falls, Lake City, Madison, Mankato, Morris, New Ulm, Park Owatonna, Rapids Perham, St. Cloud, Thief River Falls, Rochester, Virginia, Wabasha, Willmar, Winona.
How they voted: On public broadcasting /1
WASHINGTION — The U.S. House voted 214-212 to eliminate federal funding for public broadcasting over the next two years. In effect, if the U.S. Senate concirs, the bill would wipe out current federal funding for PBS and National Public Radio. The proposal originated with President Trump. The bill is part of Trump’s strategy to silence fair and balanced news coverage of his presidency. He also has targeted what he calls “woke” themes in pubic broadcasting’s arts and cultural programming. How they voted:
To cut public broadcasting
> Tom Emmer, R-Mn6 (north suburbs)
> Brad Finstad, R-Mn1 (south)
> Michelle Fischbach, R-Mn7 (rural west)
> Pete Stauber, R-Mn8 (Iron Range)
– – –
> Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wi5 (Clyman)
> Glen Grothman, R-Wi6 (Campbellsport)\
> Bryan Steil, R-Wi1 (Janesville)
> Tom Tiffany, R-Wi7 (Hazelburst)
> Derrick Van Orden, R-Wi3 (Prairie du Chien)
> Tony Wied, R-Wi8 (DePere)
Against
> Angie Craig, D-Mn-2 (south suburbs)
> Betty McCollum, D-Mn4 (St. Paul)
> Kelly Morrison, D-Mn3 (west suburbs)
> Ilhan Omar, D-Mn5 (Minneapolis)
—
> Gwen Moore, D-Wi4 (Milwaukee)
> Mark Pocan, D-Wi2 (Madison)
Defiance rally set Saturday for Windom Park
WINONA, Minn. – The citizen group Winona Indivisible has organized a second anti-Trump rally for Saturday at Windom Park. It’s one of 2,100 local rallies nationwide. Time: 12 p.m. Janice Turek, co-leader, invited protesters to bring enthusiasm and signs, posters, banners and flags Turek emphasized the importance of keeping the event peaceful. “If violent opportunists show up and get destructive, leave the area,” she said. “Stay calm. Stay peaceful. Stay strong.”
Plan: Keep peaceful
In May, also as part of protests nationwide, Winona Indivisible organized a local Hands Off rally against Trump overreaches of constitutional authority. The May rally brought 700 protesters to Windom Park. The event was peaceful. Intentionally neither Police Chief Tom Williams nor Sheriff Ron Ganrude assigned uniformed officers or patrols to the rally. No police presence was announced for the new No Kings Day event.
Steamboat Days weekend
The No Kings Day rally falls on the weekend of Winona’s 78th annual Steamboat Days community festival. There is no schedule overlap with Steamboat events except a car show eight blocks away on Third Street from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Steamboat kiddies parade is Friday, the grand parade Sunday
Invoking Prince. The implicit question: “What would the iconic Minnesota musician say about Trump.
“No Kings Day”
The rallies nationwide are symbolic opposition to President Trump’s monarchial ambitions, as evinced this week by what he calls his military occupation of Los Angeles. The grassroots No Kings Day rallying cry is not-so-subtle reference to George III, whose autocratic excesses sparked the American Revolution 1776 and led to the creation of the United States as an independent democratic republic. The No Kings Day rallies coincide with the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army, which Trump has highjacked as a celebration of his own birthday, his 79th.
Map. Organizers from a loose national coalition of local citizen groups have rallies Saturday in 2,100 locations. There also are anti-Trump demonstrations the same day in European countries and also in Canada and Mexico.
NOTE: Readers are invited to submit photos as email attachments to: editor@winonajournal.com. We will post those most newsworthy with our coverage.
Earlier: Police: Winona “Hands Off” mega-rally peaceful
Winona secures $550,000 to upgrade skateboarding
On drawing board snce 2021. To fill void left when City Council closed the West End Recreation Center in 2010 to save money.
Krage’s project includes mini-amphitheater
WINONA, Minn. — The Legislature’s $4 million appropriation for skateparks around the state includes $550,000 for a new outdoor skatepark and amphitheater on Winona’s West End. Skateboard enthusiast Zach Krage, who lobbied for the state funding, envisions a facility to complement his Anthem indoor skate arena, which he owns; the city-owned Bob Welch Aquatic Center; and a new playground. Krage envisions the complex as a hub of activity. This includes the outdoor skatepark doubling as an amphitheater for concerts and plays and farmers markets. Already, Krage said, there’s been interest in the venue for events sponsored by Mid West Music Festival, Frozen River Film Festival and Great River Shakespeare Festival.
Earlier: Fund-raising begins for West End rec plaza
.
Krage: Advocate to restore, expand West End recreation
Trucker suffered fatal heart attack at wheel
WINONA, Minn. – A massive heart attack has been blamed for the death of a dump-truck driver Monday at the foot of Stockton Hill. No one else was injured. Daniel Bambenek, age 68, was stricken while entering U.S. 14 from Gilmore Valley Road and crashed on the other side at the Knopp Valley entrance. He was driving for O’Laughlin Trucking and Excavating of Winona. It was a part-time retirement job. Earlier he had driven 42 years for Goodyear Commercial Tire and Service in Winona. He graduated from Winona High School in 1975 and attended Vo-Tech ‘s autobody and trucking programs.
Bambenek. 1956-2025.
GOP persists on April UW-Eau Claire incident
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — The Eau Claire Republican Party wants blood for an April incident in which a UW-Eau Claire professor up-ended a student GOP campaign table. The county Republicans want José Felipe Alvergue fired. This is after Alvergue declined in court to defend himself on a disorderly conduct charge and paid a $295 fine. The university has not responded to the GOP demand that Alvergue be fired. Alvergue. age 44, is a tenured member of the English faculty. The incident was at an outdoor campaign table where members of the College Republicans club were handing out pamphlets supporting Republican Brad Schimel for the state Supreme Court. It was about 8:30 a.m. According to the students, Alvergue approached their table and asked if they realized that they had set up illegally close to a polling place. As he leaned on the table, it collapsed, the students said.
Earlier: Wisconsin voters turn left with Supreme Court choice
Alvergue. A peer-reviewed poetry scholar.
Mega-meth discovery leads to major drug raids
BURNSVILLE, Minn. — Two weeks ago — on May 30, to be precise — federal agents raided a raided a storage unit in this south Minneapolis suburb and discovered more than 900 pounds of methamphetamine. The meth, in vials in crystalized form, had a street value estimated at $22 million to $25 million. It was a gigantic and certainly a newsworthy cache, but the agents whispered nary a word publicly. The agents instead took clues from the storage unit to obtain more search warrants and staged seven other drug raids and netted more meth. Those raids were simultaneous at 6 a.m., June 3, in Bloomington, Burnsville, Inver Grove Heights, Lakeville, Minneapolis and 30 miles away in Northfield. Some details remain sealed by a judge, but the indictments, which are public documents, refer to a “large and ongoing investigation” into drug trafficking, money laundering, human trafficking and illegal firearms trading by a criminal gang with ties to transnational criminal organizations.
Global drug links
When federal agents raided the Northfield residence they found two gold-plated firearms with adornments similar to weapons often seized from narco-traffickers. At a Burnsville business the agents seized portraits of the fictional drug trafficker Tony Montana, famously portrayed by Al Pacino in the 1982 movie “Scarface.” Agents reported such “homage items” send a message in drug-dealing and money-laundering gang dens.
Drug raid out of control
The cover for the unannounced federal operation was almost blown when agents attempted to seize evidence at a Minneapolis restaurant in an immigrant neighborhood — Las Cuatros Milpas on East Lake Street. Apparently assuming it was a was another Trump-ordered ICE deportation raid, protesters gathered. A melee followed. Arrested was Isabel Lopez, 27, of St. Paul. Police bodycams show her throwing a softball at the back of a sheriff’s deputy and shoving and kicking federal agents and punching one in the head. A 33-year-old man also was arrested and charged with assaulting a Minneapolis police officer who had been called to the disturbance — even though city police had been kept in the dark about the federal operation. Hennepin County deputies, also blind-sided by the federal operation, arrived to help with crowd control.
What meth looks like. Vials seized from rented storage unit. Value estimate: $25 million to $27 million. Images: U.S. attorney for Minnesota
Gold-plated. Agents say a gang affinity symbol.
Homage to Scarface. Wall posters from raid on Northfield house.
Protester taking heave at police.
Awning message. At Las Cuatros Milpas.
News summary at mid-week June 11, 2025
ACCIDENT: Train hits man, dog at Dam 5A; both die
TRANSPORTATION: Railfans rejoice: Borealis exceeds ridership forecasts
COLLEGES: WSU mum on Lourdes sale price
COLLEGES: SMU gift campaign generates $130 million
GOVERNANCE: Aviation crisis: RST tower less than half staff
GOVERNANCE: Murder update: Grandparents seek new custody law
HEALTH: Measles outbreak feared from Mall of America
CRIME: Three years prison for drunk Huff Street shooting
CRIME: Attorney: FBI-ICE agent misled on girl’s age
CRIME: Petersen twin switches olea in buggy deaths
CRIME: No more arrests seen in Rollingstone drive-bys
CRIME: Plea deal OK’d in Fountain City corpse case
CRIME: 12 years prison for holiday fling, other teen sex
CRIME: Arson possible in biking trail bridge
CRIME: Burglary spree finale at Rochester’s Purple Goat
CRIME: Negligence charged in 2024 motorcycle deaths
CRIME: Cop witnesses hit-run, wrestles driver to ground
COMMERCE: Winona home sales in May 2025
Minnesota prep
Baseball: La Crescent Hokah Lancers 14, Winona Winhawks 10
Baseball: Grand Rapids Thunderbirds 10, Stewartville Tigers 0
Citizen group on Musk: Elections not for sale
MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a citizen watchdog group, went to court to ban political gimmickry like billionaire Elon Musk’s cash gifts to voters. as he did the the April state supreme court election. In a lawsuit filed in state court, he citizen group said Musk’s give-away ran the risk oft urning elections into auctions. At a campaign event Musk handed out $1 million check He also offered $100 checks to anyone who who signed a petition opposing “activist judges” or who persuaded someone to sign the petition. Even so, Musk’s candidate lost.
Earlier: Wisconsin voters turn left with Supreme Court choice
On campaign stage. Carpet-bagger Musk, who has no Wisconsin connections, presents $1 million to supporter of a right-wing \state Supreme Court candidate. This was in April.
Petersen twin switches plea in buggy deaths
PRESTON, Minn. — A twin accused of lying to cover up her role in a 2023 fatal Amish buggy crash has come clean. Samantha Jo Petersen, age 37, signed court documents that she will plead guilty. For months she has claimed that her twin sister Sarah Beth Petersen was the driver. The plea clears the way for sentencing Samantha Jo for criminal vehicular homicide and 16 other counts. There could be adjustments in the charges depending on whether there’s been a plea deal. The original charges had included being high on meth.
Emergency, fire crews make 47 calls
WINONA, Minn. – The Fire Department reported 31 emergency medical calls plus 16 fire calls in recent days:
> Tuesday, June 10: 4 medical call plus 1 fire call
> Monday, June 9: 4 medical calls plus 2 fire calls.
> Sunday, June 8: 2 medical calls plus 1 fire call.
> Saturday, June 7: 7 medical calls plus 1 fire call.
> Friday, June 6: 3 medical call plus 3 fire calls.
> Thursday, June 5: 6 medical calls plus 3 fire calls.
> Wednesday, June 4: 5 medical calls plus 5 fire call.
Earlier: Emergency, fire crews make 51 calls
R.I.P.: Rita Mendyk
FRESNO, Calf. — Rita Marie (Kuta) Mendyk, a long-term secretary in the Nursing Department and the Registrar’s Office at Winona State University, died at age 83. She lived in Winona, 43 years. She was known as attentive to detail and as a meticulous typist. For her husband Lee, later a Winona State music prof, she typed his dissertation error free. At Winona State she was known for hosting elegant faculty patties.
Details: Higgins Funeral Home
1931-2025
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